Compassion
by LionshadeSC
Summary: Takes place post Museum of Witchcraft Mission, in which Nora is faced with a decision regarding the fate of one particular egg. Nick goes along with whatever she chooses, wary of the outcomes. oneshot, fem! SS, slight Nick/SS i'msorryican'thelpitIshipthemsohardi'msorry


Oh no.

Nick held the rifle in his hands firmly, still a bit on edge after taking out that death claw in the upper floor of the Museum of Witchcraft. The battle itself wasn't too difficult. With a few well-thrown Molotovs and several good whacks from Nora's faithful machete, the beast had fallen. The smell of scorched meat and blood was thick in the air. After taking it down, the Sole Survivor hadn't hesitated to take the mighty beast's hide, meat, and claw for later. She had then taken the time to thoroughly loot the room over after that, finding a comic and some handy things to use for materials for her Power Armor back at Home Plate.

"Oh my gosh aluminum cans!" she exclaimed while Nick patrolled the room with her. He turned his glowing optics at hearing her exclamation, maybe just a little startled, but then relaxed and even released some barking laughter as she gushed, "I am such a whore for aluminum cans!"

"Well they're certainly more of a rarity," he allowed, amused by her outburst and her sudden excitement.

She looked up at him from behind her eyeglasses, battered and bruised, but smiling, " _I know_! I mean, we find them all over the Commonwealth, but they're gone so quickly it's like they were never here!"

Nick kept his eyes on her and the rest of the room as they neared the end of the expansive space. He didn't suspect there was any more danger, not after that death claw, but it helped to at least be on guard. "Looks like it's just that hallway, eh?" he asked her.

"Yeah I'll just be a moment," she called, heading towards the hallway where a doorway was visible, probably leading to a bathroom of sorts. Nick watched after her, his finger relaxing off the trigger as Nora made the routes, checking a stray body in the hall and scanning for some good items-

"Uh-oh."

Nick didn't like the sound of that, or _uh-oh's_ in general, and he reflexively tensed for any oncoming action. "What?" he asked, stepping towards her. "What 'uh-oh'?"

That was when she held up the holotape she had found on the man's body. From where she crouched over it, she turned to look back at Nick with raised eyebrows, some nervousness flickering through her. They exchanged glances quickly, and with an air of decision, she clicked the holotape into her PipBoy, and allowed it to play.

Now they were stuck in this mess.

The holotape ended with the sound of a roaring Death Claw, and Nora held the large and heavy egg in her hands, her eyes gaping and wide as she stared at it heavily. Nick held his golden optics on her quietly, waiting and observing.

Nora frowned at the egg, indecisive, and then replayed the holotape. Nick watched her. When the tape ended a second time, he recognized something close to a decision being made. She voiced her thoughts aloud, "So we can either take this egg to whoever wants it. . . or we can return it to its nest." She huffed out a breath. "Either way, we might not make it out alive."

"Now I wouldn't go that far," Nick mused, but he waited patiently for Nora to decide what to do. Whatever she did, he would stand by her.

He had a strong inclination on what she would want to do, though, when he saw the pain flickering in her eyes as she gazed at the egg. She picked it up to hold it close to her chest in something that was close to a hug, and looked over at Nick with wide and imploring eyes. In that moment, he knew exactly what she had chosen.

"Got a plan?" he asked.

She nodded, emotion flashing over her eyes. "Parents should be with their kids."

 _Ah._ Her decision definitely made sense, now. Nick ducked his head down to hide his eyes (an old human habit) as his lips turned up into a smile. "Should we get a move on?"

She grinned.

"You see anything?" Nora asked softly.

Nick's optics, brilliant in the night, detected nothing, and he shook his head slightly. "Not a thing in sight." He glanced at Nora to see her squint into the darkness, the nest of the death claw barely illuminated by some brain fungus, glowing from the radiation levels. It cast an ethereal green glow on the barely-distinguishable eggs in the nest, covered in dirt and grasses.

Nick couldn't help the flutter of worry that passed through him as he looked at Nora uncertainly. "You sure about this, doll?" he asked. "Mama might not be out there right now, but-"

"I'm sure, Nick," she whispered back, turning her head to lock eyes with him. His gears sped up, the sound distantly echoing in his ears. "Besides, it's probably better if we do it when she's _not_ here anyway."

He allowed her that one, and shifted his weight from where he crouched, "Yeah, suppose so," he agreed grudgingly.

Nora hefted the egg close to her chest, and it killed Nick that she couldn't carry it with one arm so she could at least have one hand open and available for combat. He wondered if his worry was showing over his face, then, because Nora took the moment to lock eyes with him. Words slipped from her throat, low and deep like a forest pool at midnight, "Hey, Valentine."

He immediately started to attention, "Need something?" he asked, tone hushed and wavering with something that was _definitely_ note fear or nervousness.

She tossed him a half smile, "You got my back?"

And just like that, a swoop of courage flooded Nick's chest, and he nodded firmly, pulling out his pistol. "You have to ask?" he managed to tease. "You know I do," he reaffirmed.

At his returned confidence, Nora's smile was lighter, more confident herself as she looked back towards the nest, breathed deeply, then brazenly strolled forward.

And at once, everything went completely wrong.

As soon as Nora took two steps toward the beast's nest, a deafening and protective roar bellowed from the top of the ravine. Nick's head reflexively looked up, just in time to see the monstrous death claw glare down at the pair of them, beady eyes glimmering with nothing short of a deepest hate.

Nick lifted his pistol immediately, ready to fire as soon as the beast approached, and he looked quickly at Nora to warn her, "Nora, don't move ju- _Nora_!"

Nora had seen the death claw above her, and instead of backing away slowly, or freezing on the spot like a sensible person, she _hurried towards the nest_.

If Nick had a heart, it would have leaped into his throat. There was another roar from the death claw when it saw Nora run towards its nest, and Nick had to force himself to move as he chased after the Sole (Almost-Made-It) Survivor, his free hand reaching out to yank her arm back, his coolant pumping heavily through his tubing, echoing in his ears; panic was rising fast through his mind, the death claw totally off the table; all he could focus on was _Nora. Get Nora. Grab her. Keep her safe. Get Nora; get Nora! Get-!_

His hand missed her shoulder as she unexpectedly ducked down, and returned the death claw egg back to it's place.

Nick's hand held onto empty air, frozen, and when the huge huff of hot air brushed his face, he finally dared to look up.

The death claw stood over both of them, it's size twice their height, at least, and just as deadly. It towered over their frames, and while it only glanced at Nick, barely bothered, it looked fiercely down at Nora.

She had not moved from where she placed the egg. Her head was bowed, showing the back of her neck, and she had made her form into the smallest it could be, crouched at the edge of the nest with her hands placed solidly on the ground. The death claw watched her with glaring eyes, and if Nick ever doubted his ability to feel fear, he knew now that he could.

The death claw seemed to stare, judging Nora, both claws held at the ready to attack if need be. The trio waited.

And then, with bated breath, the death claw released a stuttering, groaning warble as it lowered its claws.

Nick breathed, his shoulders drooping in relief. "God," he breathed. "I don't ever want to do that again."

At his words, the death claw fell back onto it's forelegs, releasing a high and guttural sound, almost like a purr, and its' throat warbled from the noise it made.

Nick's hands grabbed at Nora's shoulder, pulling her back to him as she stood back up slowly, sliding back into place at his side. In his chest, Nick felt some of the tension loosen.

"Never do that again," he pulled her shoulder closer to him to whisper in her ear. Her eyes were wide, her own heart probably pumping full of adrenaline as she nodded, her lips pressed together into a thin, firm line.

"Yeah, but-" she looked at him, actually daring to take her eyes off the beast before them that could skewer them in a blink, "-it was the right thing to do."

Nick felt another splash of warmth spread through him, and he nodded, unable to keep the smile from flickering up his face. He nodded in accordance with her. "Yeah. It was, and it can be hard to do the right thing sometimes, especially when there's nothing in it for you, but it's refreshing to know there's some people out there who haven't let the Commonwealth get to them."

She grinned at him, and looked back to the death claw. It was ignoring them, now, and busy scratching loads of dirt back over the eggs. Respectfully, Nora stepped away, unscathed, and Nick was relieved to join her. He glanced back at the death claw just once as they walked off to ensure their safety, and then returned to walk faithfully at her side.

"Some have been calling you the Sole Survivor," Nick told her as they started walking, "now they'll call you the Deathclaw Tamer."

Nora laughed at that, placing her hand at her chest as if to feel her heartbeat, "Well, hopefully that was just a one-time thing. I don't think I could handle getting that close to a death claw more than once."

Nick smiled, "Agreed."

"Oh! Look!"

Crouched next to Nora, Nick peered up over the ravine's edge to stare down at the canyon beneath them. Both had their guns holstered for now, but all of Nick was set for action, ready for anything to go wrong.

Nora kept close to him, her eyes focused on their targets, and her smile was the brightest he had seen in a while. "They're so little!" she cooed.

"Now don't think for a moment that we're taking one back to Home Plate," he teased.

She tossed him a smile, "Don't be ridiculous. I mean we're _obviously_ taking them back to your office!"

"Ha, ha," he replied, voice monotone, and Nick tilted his head up a little farther to see the small, baby death claws wrestling with each other, letting out cries of playful anger as they screeched and snarled at their siblings. Already just days old, their claws were the size of steak knives. One of them gnawed playfully at it's sibling's tail. "They are kinda cute," he admit.

"See?" Nora teased again, eyes crinkling as she smiled at him. "No need for that tough guy act around me." She looked back at the little creatures, her smile warm.

Both contented to just watch the little creatures for now, and it was finally Nora that spoke after several seconds of silence, "We did do a good thing, right?"

"'Course we did," Nick replied instantly. Nora's smile flickered once before dropping, and Nick almost didn't process as his metallic hand reached out to grab hers. "Nora," he called, quiet. She looked at him, brought to attention by his softer tone. They locked eyes with each other. His hand tightened over hers. "You did alright."

The hesitation in her eyes started to die down, and she cast her eyes back down, locking strangely on their overlapped hands. Nick instantly started to draw his hand away, but quick as a bullet, her hand flipped over to grab his even more securely so their hands entwined with each other. Nick remained frozen where he crouched, and he couldn't move his eyes away from Nora, who kept her eyes cast down at his hands. "Thanks, Nick," she murmured.

If he was human (Nick thought that a lot), he imagined his mouth would have been dry, but as it was, he didn't have any saliva, didn't have anything to swallow, so he just nodded. "Anythin' for you, doll," was all he managed.

She smiled at that, her voice a quiet whisper. "You're a good man, Nick."

Unsure about the sudden change of tone, Nick shifted the weight of his crouch and cast his gaze down in embarrassment. "Well, I try to, but, there's always more good to be-"

" _Nick_ ," she stressed his name, and it made his wiring tighten expectantly.

"Yeah?" he asked, lifting his eyes again.

He wasn't ready for the sudden swoop of movement from his partner as she ducked close to him, and she brought her lips to his cheek in a fast yet intimate kiss, succeeding in freezing the synth to the spot as her lips brushed against his synthetic skin. "You're a good man, Nick," she repeated, her tone soft. "Don't convince yourself otherwise."

His coolant pumped faster.

"Ok?" she asked, and he felt her breath against his ears. Nick swore that for a few seconds, he couldn't think.

"Ok," he managed to get out.

With her cheek pressed against his, he could feel her smile.


End file.
